War memorial defaced in Coronation Park

Toronto police are investigating after a war memorial was defaced in Coronation Park just hours after Remembrance Day services took place.

Graffiti was spotted at the memorial at Lake Shore Boulevard and Strachan Avenue by a passerby late in the day. Scrawled in what appears to be black marker, someone had written “Canada will burn praise Allah” on part of the memorial.

Police have contacted city officials and the cleanup was already underway Sunday night.

But public outrage was swift.

“I think it’s sick,” Gord Pearce, past president and current treasurer of the Royal Canadian Legion #11 told CP24. “The soldiers have died to keep our country free – this is what (the memorial) is for. This is what memorials are there for.”

Sculptor John McEwen, who crafted the “Victory Peace” memorial in the late 90’s, told CP24 that desecrating the memorial with a violent message made no sense, as it stands for peace.

“In various scripts and in various languages, you have fifty different words for peace (on the memorial),” McEwen said. “It seems quite a stupid bit of vandalism when you realize that the reality of the memorial is to say ‘this is the Toronto of today that comes from that event… today’s plurality of languages spoken in Toronto.’”

Police are asking anyone who may have witnessed anything in the area to come forward.